Obliviate
by obiweed
Summary: Hermione serves detention with Snape and finds more dangerous than she expected in the Forbidden Forest.
1. Chapter 1 - detention

**Chapter 1**

In hindsight, Hermione supposed that if she had just picked someone else to be pissy with, none of this would have happened. Professor Snape was, as it turned out, not the best choice as a recipient for one's bad mood.

She had been annoyed that day at everything: Ron's bad table manners, Harry's asking for her help on his homework, and even Ginny's enthusiasm for the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade. In potions class, she was extraordinarily peeved at being overlooked time and time again so that Snape could humiliate lesser prepared students. Finally, she huffed.

"What was that? Something constructive to say, Miss Granger?" Snape swiveled and glowered at her.

"No, sir." Even trying to be conciliatory, Hermione could not keep her annoyance out of her voice.

"No, no. Out with it. I wouldn't want such a fine student as yourself to strangle upon your own bile."

"It's just…" Hermione trailed off, sure that she was about to say the wrong thing and get herself into even more trouble.

Snape raised an eyebrow in mock attentiveness. "Yes? Do tell."

"It's just… you seem to waste a lot of the class's time calling on people who aren't prepared, and it's just not fair to those of us who are!" Well. There she was. Unable to keep her mouth shut after all.

"Ah. As I am sure it is unfair for the class to be interrupted by your overeager display of hubris. Ten points from Gryffindor, and, I think, a detention with me this evening. You can show me then what you seem to know about potion making. In the meantime, I think we can all agree that we have heard enough from Miss Granger."

Hermione bit her lip and looked down, her cheeks flaming. She had never gotten detention before, at least not without Harry or Ron getting them all in trouble. And she was _right_, too. Snape WAS a royal prat, and he enjoyed wasting class time to humiliate the students. She, on the other hand, was there to learn. Not that he cared.

Hermione whiled away the rest of class seething in this manner, and much of dinner as well, egged on by Ron and Harry's sympathy. But by the time her evening detention rolled around, she had the good grace to show some humility and shame. Otherwise, she knew Snape would see through her and find some new methods of torment.

When Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon classroom, he met her at the door and immediately said, "follow me." She trailed behind him as quickly as she could, but he obviously wanted to make her trot like an obedient dog. When they reached the doors to the outside, Snape looked her up and down with a critical, sneering eye.

"I suppose you will be warm enough in that? We are going to the Forbidden Forest, and I don't want you to whine that you are cold."

"No, sir. I mean, yes sir. I am warm enough." Hermione tried not to let her apprehension show. She had heard all about Ron and Harry's detentions in the forest with Hagrid, and how they didn't always end up so well. She hoped that Snape was a mite more responsible with his students than Hagrid was. As much as she loved the half-giant, he often let his exuberance cloud his common sense.

"Sir, what are we doing in the forest?" Hermione asked politely.

"We will be harvesting some important plants for making a variety of potions. Speaking of which, what are the top ten most commonly used potions?" So Snape was going to quiz her. Ok, she should be able to handle this.

Hermione was able to list all ten, though not without some considerable thought once she reached number eight. She had to decide between four contenders for the last two spots, but judging by Snape's aggrieved look, she answered correctly. Snape continued to ask her questions throughout their walk, until Hermione was reminded of the muggle hospital shows, where the arrogant attendings quizzed the residents to show them up. However, Hermione kept up with Snape, both in pace and knowledge, and she was distracted by the questioning to the point that they had reached the forest and proceeded quite a ways in before she noticed.

They finally stopped in a small clearing in the woods, and when Hermione looked around, she saw a number of plants with magical uses. She breathed out a sigh of admiration and asked, "Is this a garden?"

Snape, annoyed that he hadn't managed to stump Hermione even once, sneered, "No. Not at all. Just a fertile patch of ground for a number of useful plants. Now, be useful yourself and go into the forest through there and harvest some _Nox lumineri_. It should be easy to find, as it glows. You can tell me what it is used for when you come back."

Hermione didn't think she'd ever heard of the plant, but was determined to pull its uses up from the depths of her memory while she searched for it. And she figured that the effort of remembering would help keep her fear at bay, as she was being forced to go into the forest alone.

After Hermione had gingerly stepped into the woods and been gone for a moment or two, Snape heard a soft chuckle from the woods to his left.

"Tsk, tsk, Severus. Feeling the need to show up the ickle student by pretending to know about something that doesn't exist?"

Snape whirled and drew his wand aggressively, only lowering it slightly when he recognized the voice.

"Bellatrix," he hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, I'd imagine. Gathering some plants." Bellatrix glided from the shadows, beautiful and gaunt in her black dress. She, too, had her wand raised somewhat aggressively, though her face showed a mocking expression.

"Well, you need to leave. Immediately. You cannot be seen by a student. It cannot be known that I am… that we are…"

"Colleagues in pain?"

Snape scowled, but nodded curtly.

"Don't worry, Sevvie," she sing-songed, and Snape scowled even more at this less than humorous nickname. "I'll just get what I need for the Dark Lord and be on my way."

"Bellatrix. NOW."

"Tut, tut. I don't believe you are the boss here. And if your precious student comes back, I'll just deal with her. _Nicely." _She added at his horrified expression.

Bellatrix began to do a graceful dark whirl of a dance, _accio_-ing various plants to her and tucking them away somewhere within her voluminous skirt. She ignored Snape's discomfort, but immediately became alert when Hermione stepped back into the clearing.

"Professor," Hermione began, not yet noticing Bellatrix.

"_Petrificus totalis!"_ shouted Bellatrix, before Snape could act.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted, running towards Hermione's body as it fell to the forest floor like a plank of wood. "She can hear you!"

"So let her hear. I can wipe her memory clean and she'll never know how lucky she was tonight. Now, step away. I want to see this student who had you so flustered tonight. Step. Away." Bellatrix commanded, not ceasing to glare at Snape until he had retreated a distance.

Snape glowered suspiciously at Bellatrix as she moved closer to the fallen body. Hermione stared up at the Death Eater in terror, though only her eyes showed her fear. She could not move or speak, but she was absolutely aware of the dark woman's nearness. Bellatrix stood beside Hermione's body and prodded it with her toe.

"So, you are a smart one, eh? Poor old Sevvie was so distraught that you were showing him up that he sent you on a wild goose chase. Did you find any glowing plants? No? Pity. That's because there are none. But you found something else instead, didn't you." She whispered menacingly, as she crouched down beside the girl and leaned over her, moving Hermione's bushy hair back from her face with her wand, and examining the young witch's face.

"You found ME. That's worth several mysterious, glowing plants, I should say. Old Dumbles would love to catch me here, I'm sure. Not that he could do anything about it – he hasn't been able to yet!" Here Bellatrix stopped to cackle a slightly maniacal laugh, before she took an exquisitely deep breath and looked back down at Hermione.

"Merlin. You _are_ quite the pretty one, aren't you? Under this bush of hair there is a brain AND a pretty face? Maybe that's why Severus has you down here in the nighttime all alone with him…"

Snape moved closer at this and said angrily, "Bellatrix, you go too far. It's time for you to leave now."

She stood quickly and snapped, "I'm not done yet!" With a flick of her wand, she sent Snape flying to the other side of the clearing, where he hit a tree and fell slumped to the ground.

"Did you see what he made me do?" Bellatrix whispered to a terrified Hermione, crouching back down. "Tiresome man. They are all tiresome men. Except the Dark Lord, but then, he doesn't really count as just a man anymore, he's so much more…" She trailed off, eyes gazing into the distance before refocusing on the young woman on the ground.

"_Mobilicorpus_," Bellatrix muttered, causing Hermione to rise from the ground. She twisted her wand until Hermione was upright, floating in the air in front of her, as if she were standing on her own. Bellatrix continued to look her over, her eyes not betraying what she was thinking. Hermione wished she knew what was going to happen to her, but every time she started to imagine, she became too terrified to continue her train of thought. She didn't think that Bellatrix knew who she was – that she was friends with Harry Potter or that she was a muggle-born. Doubtless she would be dead or tortured now if Bellatrix knew these things, regardless of what happened to Snape as a result. Instead, the Death Eater seemed to be rather fascinated with the young witch.

"You know," Bellatrix began, moving closer to Hermione and leaning in towards her ear, "you could be very useful. Useful to the Dark Lord. Useful to me." Hermione could feel her curly mane of hair tickling her cheek, and her hot breath on her ear. She would have shivered if she'd been able to, though whether from fear or something else, she didn't know. And then Bellatrix reached out her tongue and swiped her earlobe, and Hermione knew it wasn't fear. It wasn't even fear when Bellatrix bit Hermione's ear just enough to cause a sharp pain. But it quickly turned to fear when Bellatrix stepped back and raised her wand.

"Now, I suppose, we must proceed with that memory charm. Can't have loud mouths running around Hogwarts, can we?"

With that, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Hermione, then swiftly turned and said, "_obliviate," _aiming directly at Snape. The spell hit him hard enough that he slumped even further along the tree.

Bellatrix turned back to Hermione, reached out and ran one finger down her cheek. "Ta ta for now, my lovely. We shall see each other again soon, and then I will find out just how useful you can be."

The Death Eater sauntered off into the forest, hips swaying and black dress melting into the trees, leaving the young witch suspended in the air.


	2. Chapter 2 - lists

** Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own copies of the HP books**

**Chapter 2**

Hermione's eyes strained followed the dark shape of Bellatrix's figure as it merged with the shadows of the trees. After a few moments, her body fell to the ground. She got up quickly on shaky legs, wondering if the Death Eater had released her or simply allowed the spell to wear off. She thought she ought to try to pursue Bellatrix, but reason quickly reminded her that this was folly. She could not hope to match Bellatrix's skill at dueling, and Snape was still unconscious. Best she tend to her professor and get them both back to the castle safely. Plus, she wasn't really quite sure what her motivations might be for following the woman, and she didn't trust herself to figure it out on the fly. And also, she reasoned, Bellatrix had probably already disapparated, and the woods were dark and forbidding and dangerous and, and, and. Hermione realized that she having to create a lot of excuses to keep herself from doing something foolhardy. With a sigh, she turned towards her professor.

Hermione made her way over to Snape's ragdoll body and took a moment to examine his unlikely position. It was awkward to see her pompous teacher laid out this way, and she felt an unwelcome chuckle trying to force its way out of her throat. Finally, she knelt down, straightened his robes a bit, and shook his arm.

"Professor? Professor! Please wake up! You've fallen!" Hermione continued to shake at Snape, wondering what kind of mood he'd be in when he awoke.

"Granger?" He peered groggily at her. "What…" He stopped himself. It would not do to appear at a loss to one of his students. He looked around carefully, appraised his surroundings, and continued, "What has happened to you?"

"Me?" Hermione looked down at herself, and noticed that she had rather a lot of leaves and debris on her robes. "I… umm… I fell. I think I slipped and fell on a mushroom while I was looking for the _Nox lumineri_. I'm so sorry, Professor, but I couldn't find any."

"Ah. You must have been looking a long time, Granger. Doubtless that is why I fell asleep waiting for you. I'm disappointed to see that you have come back empty handed, but at least the forest didn't swallow you up. Now, what are the properties and uses of _Nox lumineri_?"

"I'm so sorry, Professor. I can't remember. I will be happy to look it up when we return, and I promise I won't forget it!"

"No matter. You probably know it by its muggle name – Foxfire. And it's a fungus, not a plant. You were probably looking for the wrong thing. No doubt it's what you destroyed as you stepped on it."

"Oh! I do know that one!" Hermione began to list the potion uses of the foxfire fungus when Snape stopped her with an upheld hand.

"Enough. You have wasted enough of my time. Let us return to the castle, and you can sort the plants I have gathered."

Hermione was relieved to be able to walk back in silence, though secretly she was amazed at how Snape covered up for himself. However, she supposed he didn't remember anything, as Bellatrix had obliviated him, so his version of events probably made the most sense to him. She spent the rest of the trip thinking about Bellatrix, the Death Eater, the beautiful dark witch. Whenever she replayed the woman's words or actions, Hermione was terrified. "See each other again soon"? "Useful to the Dark Lord"? Did she want to turn Hermione into a Death Eater? Would she torture her when she found out she was a muggle-born?

But just as quickly as the terror came, Hermione would remember the feel of her tongue on her ear, remember it first in the pit of her stomach and then further down, and she would forget the rest. She found herself focusing on Bellatrix's words, "useful to me," and her compliments on Hermione's looks and intelligence. And even though her brain told her to use reason to sort it all out, her stomach muscles clenched in revolt. For the first time, Hermione's brain didn't set the rules, and she didn't know how to get it back in control of the situation.

A list. She needed to write it all down. And tell someone – Harry and Ron, of course. And Dumbledore? She tried to sort all her thoughts out, mulling over what Bellatrix was doing at Hogwarts, and what she had said about Voldemort, and how did Snape figure into all of this? If he wasn't any longer a Death Eater, why didn't she just kill him? AND kill Hermione? And why did Bellatrix lick her earlobe? Did she like women? Did Hermione? Hermione might like women, she wasn't sure. There WAS the one Ravenclaw witch who was a few years older than Hermione and had caught her eye during her third year… Stop! Back to business! Evil Bellatrix! Evil Voldemort! Trying to turn Hermione into a Death Eater!

The tornado of thoughts and quivery feelings that swirled around Hermione made her a rather incompetent plant sorter, much to Snape's disgust. It didn't take long for him to send her back to her dormitory, with the warning that she would owe him two nights of work if she didn't get him her paper on foxfire by lunch the next day. Hermione was thrilled to flee his dank room, though her thoughts had not settled in the slightest. Worst of all, her friends were all asleep by the time she returned, so she had no one to work things out with.

Even though it was late, Hermione sat up in bed with a parchment on her lap and began to write. She created two columns: A: Bellatrix at Hogwarts? and B: What Bellatrix wants with me? Into column A she placed all of her thoughts and questions about Bellatrix and what she might have been doing in the Forbidden Forest, her relationship with Snape, what Snape might be up to, what Voldemort was up to and so on. She forced herself to finish these notes before starting on Column B.

Despite her discipline, Hermione found that she didn't have much to write in Column B. What did Bellatrix want with her? All she could come up with was that Bellatrix thought Hermione might be a good candidate for learning dark magic, as she was intelligent. She also thought that Bellatrix might be interested in her for other reasons, but as much as that idea had rooted itself in her belly, she didn't write it down. While she wanted to show this list to Ron and Harry, she wasn't sure if she wanted them to know about THAT. Not when she didn't even know what it was herself.

Hermione rolled the parchment up and tried to go to sleep. An hour of tossing and turning followed. Nothing she tried to think of, no memorized passages from her textbooks or recitations of Shakespeare, would calm her riotous heartbeat whenever she thought of dark curls, red lips, and a warm tongue across her ear. Hermione finally fell asleep late in the night, curled tightly in a ball and rubbing her earlobe gently.

**A/N: **This might be a bit slow for some, but one of the reasons I've always been drawn to a Bellamione pairing was because of the juxtaposition of Bella's passion and Hermione's reason. Don't worry, we'll get there!


	3. Chapter 3 - Hogsmeade

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own copies of the HP books! JKR owns it all, and then some.**

**Chapter 3 **

The next morning found Hermione still tired and still agitated. She raced to the common room to meet Harry and Ron, and pulled them aside as soon as their rumpled figures made their way down the steps.

"Ron! Harry! We have to talk! You'll never believe what happened last night during my detention with Snape!" Hermione's rapid words had Ron wincing, and Harry replying scathingly, "You cut his hair by accident, and now he looks human?"

"No, Harry, I'm serious! We have to go find a quiet place to talk, this is serious!"

"Serious, serious, ok, ok." Ron muttered as he followed along after Hermione. However, when he realized that she was dragging them to the library and NOT to the Great Hall for breakfast, he stopped and pulled at her. "So serious we can't get breakfast, 'Mione? Come on! Can't it wait?"

"No, it can't. You can eat extra at lunch. Ron! When do I ever do this to you?"

"All the time, really. Need a recipe for a potion? Drag Ron to the library. Found a new fact on the history of Hogwarts? Drag Ron to the library." The muttering continued down the hall.

"And Harry! He gets dragged, too!" added Harry, who was in a considerably better mood, being entertained by his two friends in this manner. He wondered if the two of them would ever get together, and when they did, if they would bicker like this until their dying day. Probably, and probably.

When Hermione finally had the two boys settled in a remote part of the library, she gave them a detailed account of what had happened in the Forbidden Forest. It didn't take long for her friends to snap to attention – in fact, they were suspicious from the moment they heard that Snape took Hermione down there. When Bellatrix entered the picture, Harry actually stood up and had to be dragged back down again.

"You can't go running off to Dumbledore yet! Let me tell you the whole story! I know you hate Snape, Harry, and I'm not sure he's innocent in all this, but there's more!" Hermione continued with her account of being immobilized by the dark witch, what the dark witch said to her, and what she did to Snape's memory. She left out the bit about the caresses to ear and cheek, though she wasn't sure why. Surely that would be important information, but she wasn't ready to share that yet.

When she finally finished, the boys were silent for a moment before both firing off heated questions.

"What do you think she wanted from the forest?"

"Why was SHE the one being sent to get it? I thought she had a lot of power with Vold… You-know-who."

"Why didn't Snape do anything to try to save you? Greasy git."

"Why did she knock him out and then obliviate him, but not you?"

"Did she and Snape plan to be there at the same time?"

Hermione let them run on like this for a few minutes before she finally held up a hand and said, "I don't know. That's why I'm telling you all this. What do you think we ought to do?"

Harry and Ron both looked at her in surprise. They were not used to Hermione not having some answers, or at the very least some ideas, and certainly they didn't expect her to come to THEM for a solution. Wasn't there some book she'd want to consult?

"Well, erm…" Apparently the new responsibility slowed them both down, as now neither were suggesting that they rush off anywhere to do anything.

Hermione looked at them with her eyes narrowed. Typical. She had to do everything. And it was time for Charms class. As they hurried to Professor Flitwick's classroom, Hermione suddenly remembered something else.

"Crap! I owe Snape a paper on that stupid fungus. He said I'd owe him two more nights of detention if I didn't get it done by lunchtime today."

"Hermione! That's perfect! You can use that as an opportunity to sneak around his office and see if you can't find something else out! Or try to find out some more information from him! I mean, he can't remember what happened, so he'll just think you are being your usual, have-to-know-it-all self!"

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione replied sarcastically. Though, she had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea. It placed a lot more of the focus on Snape, which Harry ALWAYS wanted to do, but maybe he was right. Maybe she could find out what grew down in the forest that Bellatrix might want, or if Snape went down there regularly, and she might have been hoping to meet him.

By the time Charms class was over, Hermione had a dozen different strategies to try to find out information from Snape, and she was almost excited for her detentions. Ron and Harry also had some ideas for her, and they talked all the way to lunch.

Once inside the Great Hall, Hermione sought out her Potions professor. She approached him with what she hoped was a contrite look, apologized for not having the paper finished, and asked him what time she should be at his office for her detention.

"You don't have your assignment, Ms. Granger? Unheard of. Pigs must be flying somewhere. I will see you in my office at 7 pm. Be sure to have your parchment then, or I shall find some truly odious tasks for you to do."

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape. I will have it for you this evening, I promise." Hermione had to try hard to continue looking apologetic, instead of skipping her way back to her seat in triumph. It wasn't until halfway through her meal that Hermione realized that she might be placing herself in nearer proximity to Bellatrix, by being with Snape a second night in a row. This thought caused a quiver of anxious excitement, but she pretended that she was nervous that something bad might happen again, or that Snape would figure her out.

Detention with Snape didn't go quite as she had hoped. For one thing, he knocked off one of her nights with him when she gave him the parchment on foxfire. (Foxfire was only used in very mundane potions, incidentally, and not at all intriguing from the "What did Bellatrix want?" angle. Not unless she was looking to get rid of some teenage face spots.) So now Hermione had to try to get all of her answers in one night, instead of two.

Secondly, for most of the evening, Hermione was put to work chopping up potions ingredients on her own in the classroom, while Snape worked in his office, alone. Hermione tried going to him to ask petty questions ("how big did you want these pieces, again?") but that was only turning Snape more and more surly towards her. He never could abide incompetence, and he certainly didn't expect it from Hermione. Or so he snapped at her after the third time she had come to his door.

She worked on her own after that, only stopping by his office when her time was up, to let him know that she was going. As she entered, Hermione took a deep breath and decided that it was now or never. Might as well try it, couldn't hurt. Much.

"Sir, I was wondering something."

"Miss Granger, when are you ever NOT wondering something?"

"Umm… well… I was wondering if there are plants that Professor Sprout can't grow, that grow wild. I mean, the kinds used in potions."

Snape looked at her as if she'd grown two heads. "Of course there are. Numerous specimens! Only some types thrive in greenhouses or gardens, and most grow wild, which is how they were first discovered. Miss Granger, I think the nincompoops you call your friends are rubbing off on you, as it is certainly not the other way around."

"I mean, I mean… What plants were we looking for in the Forbidden Forest? Are there some that grow only there?"

"Miss Granger, certainly you cannot expect me to tell you all the secrets of either potion-making or the Forbidden Forest. Despite your love of knowing everything, you have not exactly shown the restraint borne of age and wisdom. I'm certainly not going to be responsible for you traipsing down to the forest to get something there that you shouldn't even be handling. Now run along and try to pick up some common sense before you get back to your dormitory." That last bit might have sounded a bit paternal, had it not been Snape who sneered it at her.

Crap, crap, and double crap.

She wasn't so good at this subterfuge. Maybe she could ask Professor Sprout when she had Herbology class later that week. Ron and Harry were going to be disappointed with her, but what else could she do?

Except that Professor Sprout was also not impressed with Hermione's sudden interest in the Forbidden Forest, and anyway, was too involved with rescuing Padma Patil from some Stinging Moss to answer her questions.

Hermione's patience was growing seriously thin, both with her lack of answers and her male friends' pestering. They really were not very helpful and she was considering letting Neville in on the secret to pick his plant-obsessed brain, when the weekend trip to Hogsmeade arrived. She decided to let her obsession go for a day of fun. She was starting to feel like she might even deserve it.

"Ginny, come ON! I need to go buy some quills, and we've been in here for ages!"

Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione, as if to say, "how can you be in a candy shop for too long?"

"And," Hermione added, "the boys are going to meet us at the Three Broomsticks in 20 minutes, and you said you wanted to sit with us this time. If we don't hurry, all the seats will be taken!"

"Ok, ok," Ginny grumbled. "But PLEASE tell me you know exactly what you need, and I won't have to wait around forever while you sniff the ink and caress the parchment."

Maybe it was Ginny's use of the word "caress" that did it, but suddenly Hermione couldn't help but remember the very memories she was trying to take a break from. She felt herself blushing as they strode down the lane, and then mercifully her attention was captured by the bookstore down the alley.

"You know, I think I'd rather go to that book store instead. I forgot that there is a book I've been looking for that the library never seems to have."

Ginny stopped. "Oh, no. No way. No bookstores. You will be in there forever, I know it. We'll never meet the boys, and we'll never have butterbeer, and you'll need me to help you carry a zillion books home, because you never can buy just one."

Despite Hermione's protestations, Ginny refused to accompany her and insisted that she would wait for Hermione at the pub. She entered the mostly empty-of-patrons, but full-of-books shop, and started to work her way through the leaning shelves. She had just reached the back of the store and turned towards the front again when she saw an older woman stride through the door. Hermione's breath caught in her throat, and her heart began pounding wildly. Bellatrix! Here?

The young witch edged back towards the shelves and took a closer look. Upon inspection, it was not Bellatrix, but Hermione was not surprised at her mistake. This attractive older witch moved with the same confident sway to her hips, had long black hair (though straight, not curly) and had the odd habit of tilting her head in the same manner as Bellatrix. If Hermione hadn't known what the Death eater's two sisters looked like, she would have sworn that this woman was one of them. But her face was not quite the same as Bellatrix's, and she had a flashy blue streak in her hair, and she wasn't scaring the people around her half to death. So, there it was, proof that this was not the witch that Hermione sought. Erm. That Hermione was trying to avoid. At all costs.

Hermione moved out from her skulking place and continued looking for a book on magical plants. When she had just started to get frustrated with her lack of success, she noticed the older woman watching her. She surreptitiously attempted to be sure, but it was impossible to avoid eye contact. Finally, she mustered up some Gryffindor courage and met the woman's eyes boldly, if politely. She even tried smiling a bit.

The older woman lifted her head in a kind of pompous greeting/acknowledgement, narrowed her eyes slightly at Hermione, and twisted her mouth in a small smirk. At this, Hermione's stomach dropped, but only so far as the place where her other emotions seemed to be pooling.

While half-formed questions and even less formed answers swirled around Hermione's head, her feet seemed to have made a decision, and she found herself walking towards the stranger. It took a moment for her brain to catch up with her body, but when it did, it went into Valiant Effort mode.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I am wondering if you happen to know a good book on magical plants of the forest?" Hermione tried her best not to stutter, but wasn't sure if she succeeded.

The older woman narrowed her eyes even further at Hermione, and then replied in a familiar, scathing voice, "I don't actually work here, as I'm sure you could tell if you tried. However, I do happen to know a good book on the topic, so you are in luck." She held out her hand and small book with a brown binding flew into it. The dark-haired witch opened the cover, moved her wand in a quick, complex pattern over the title page, and then closed it abruptly.

"Here. I hope you find what you need in it." She placed the book in Hermione's hand, trailing her fingertips along the young witch's palm as she did so. The dark witch then turned and strode confidently out of the shop.

Hermione watched her go, unable to believe what her senses were telling her. That couldn't have been Bellatrix! It would be preposterous for her to show up here, in broad daylight, on a Hogwarts' weekend! Though bold. Very bold.

Hermione opened the book cover and stared at the writing inside.

"This book is not awful, though there is no mention of _Nox lumineri_ inside. If you'd like a more useful education, try the classes at the Hog's Head at midnight."

Crap. Crap. And double crap.


	4. Chapter 4 - Hog's Head lessons

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: I hadn't thought of when in the canon this story took place, but as I continued to work on it, I realized that it had to take place during The Order of the Phoenix, but before the DA is formed. Can't promise to follow the canon exactly, sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own copies of the HP books! JKR owns it all, and then some. **

Hermione paid for the book and rushed to the Three Broomsticks. She swallowed the words that were trying to pour out of her when she saw Ginny sitting with Ron and Harry at a very small table. She wasn't prepared to bring Ginny, or anyone else for that matter, into this. But she wasn't sure that she could wait long to let the boys know. Her indecision had her even more flustered than she was when she'd left the bookstore.

"Merlin, 'Mione! What is wrong with you! Did something happen in that shop?" Ginny eyed her friend with confusion and concern.

"What? No! No, nothing! Why?"

Ginny scrunched her eyebrows, cocked her head, and pointed at the book in Hermione's hand. "Well, you only have one book! Since when do you only buy one book in a bookstore?"

"Yeah," Ron echoed, "and such a small book too! You must be ill or something!"

"Well, I… umm… I only needed this one, and I was trying to rush back here to be with you all!" Her self-obsessed friends seemed fine with that explanation, though Harry continued to examine her.

"What book did you get?" he asked, reaching for it.

Hermione realized that maybe this was a good way to let him know what had happened, without talking about it. She slid the small volume across the table to him.

"It's about plants. Look at the first page."

Harry opened the book and peered at the title page. " 'Native Plants of the British Isles.' Huh. They didn't have this in the library?"

Hermione tried to give him a pointed look, and said with slightly more emphasis than she would normally use, "Keep reading. Look closely."

"Published in 1984. Blimey, 'Mione, this isn't even that new! Isn't there a more updated copy?"

"No, Harry! Let me see that." He turned the book to face her, and she saw nothing on the title page except exactly what he'd read.

_What?_ She snatched the book back, and when she touched it, the sentence immediately appeared, though Harry did not seem to notice. Hermione realized that the message had been charmed to appear only to her. _It's just an invitation to me, then._

"Umm… well, there is some really good stuff in here about plants that aren't so flashy but that make up our native flora, and I wanted to know more about it for when I go camping with my family this summer."

Ron snickered. "Only you would be doing research for a vacation that isn't for another 8 months!"

Hermione glared at Ron, and then tried to enjoy the rest of her butterbeer and time away from Hogwarts. She would tell the boys what had happened on their walk back to school. Right now she couldn't do anything else but enjoy herself, so that's what she tried to do. She also took careful inventory of each and every person in the room, looking for a certain older witch, not knowing if she hoped she'd be there or not.

While the dark-haired witch did not make an appearance, Hermione noticed a Hogwarts student sitting at a table by herself, reading.

"Hey, Ginny. Who is that? She's all by herself." Hermione nudged Ginny and quietly made her query.

"Ummm… I think her name is Roxanna. She's in Ravenclaw, a 6th year, I think. She's always by herself, and she always has a book with her. I only know who she is because Fred wanted to prank her once, and George wouldn't let her, so then Fred was convinced that George fancied her. But I think George was not being a prat for once, you know? I mean, she seems content, but kind of lonely."

"Oh… hmmm." Hermione's mind was going a mile a minute, and she barely registered Ginny's disappointed look at not being encouraged to keep on with her schoolgirl gossip. Mostly one thought kept repeating itself in her head: _She reminds me of me._

On the walk back to Hogwarts, Hermione decided that she wanted some more time to herself to think. Using the pretense of looking through her new book, she fell back from the others just a bit. While her mind was mostly elsewhere, she did notice that the plants mentioned in her book were used in very common potions, nothing she couldn't have found out in her own textbooks.

_I wonder if I'm going to end up having to sneak into the restricted section to find a book about plants used in dark magic potions. I expect so... Otherwise, what would Bellatrix have been doing in the forest? Surely Voldemort would only have sent her after plants he couldn't get anywhere else, or that were exceedingly dangerous. Or both._

Hermione slowed her steps when she realized that she was feeling reluctant to talk to Harry and Ron about what had happened in the bookstore. She had been so eager to before, but now she was becoming more and more curious about what she might be able to learn from Bellatrix, and she didn't think that they'd believe her when she told them that she just wanted to know. Not for anything bad, just to know.

Finally, she caught up with them to talk just before dinner.

"I think I might have figured out a way to find something out about Bellatrix and what she was doing in the forest." This got their attention, and they seated themselves at the far end of the long table to talk privately.

"Harry, I'll need your cloak for tonight. I think I might know where I can go to find out what we need to know."

"Sure, 'Mione, but can't we come along? Where are you going?" Harry was always generous, but he never wanted to be left out, and he seemed to think he was Hermione's protector. As did Ron, even though she could out-hex both of them at the same time. It was kind of cute, but not tonight.

"No, I think I'd better go alone. I think I can find some information in the restricted section of the library, but it might take a long time to find it."

Harry and Ron's eyes practically glazed over at the word, "library" and Harry agreed that this sounded like a one-woman adventure. Plus, other than Madame Pince or Filch, what harm could come to Hermione in the library?

Hermione mentally agreed that the library was a safe place to sneak around at night, which is why she mentioned it, neglecting to tell her friends that she wasn't actually going there tonight. Technically, she hadn't lied to them, she told herself. And they'd flip out if they knew where she was actually going.

Eleven o'clock at night found Hermione shuffling quietly through the halls under the invisibility cloak, book in her hand. She wasn't sure how she was going to get out of the school itself, but decided she'd figure it out when she got there. As it turned out, she had no problem. As she approached the doors, the book in her hand became warmer, and she was easily able to open them silently and slip out. The invitation written in the book seemed to have more magic behind it than she'd previously thought.

Anxiety and anticipation tripping through her body, Hermione made her way quickly to Hogsmeade and into the Hog's Head pub. She followed closely behind a burly patron to enter, then quietly slipped to a corner. The bearded wizard who ran the questionable establishment looked up and into the corner briefly, but then got back to the business of pretending to wipe down the counters. Hermione checked to see that no part of her body was peeking out from under the cloak, and when satisfied, she settled down to wait.

Close to midnight, other students began to slip into the pub in small groups. Slytherins, mostly, with a few Ravenclaws in the mix. Hermione was not shocked to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle there, but she was surprised to see some of the others. All of them were either from pure-blood families or were at the tops of their classes, often both. None were muggle-born like her. They sat in their small groups, scattered around the room, glancing curiously and a bit distrustfully at one another.

At midnight, an older wizard who radiated strength and presence strode through the door. He stood near the middle of the room, and with a glower sent every patron who wasn't obviously a Hogwarts student towards the exit. When it was just him and the students left, he began.

"Gather around. You are all here for one reason, so stop pretending to play innocent. Sit around this table and listen closely. I'm not here for foolish games, and nor are you."

Hermione stayed invisible in her corner. This wasn't what she'd been expecting, but obviously something was up, and she planned on staying to watch.

However, while she clearly expected this meeting to be some sort of dark magic practice lesson, it began sounding more and more like a typical recruitment session. The wizard, introducing himself as Professor Jugson, spent much of his time "teaching" a warped history of wizarding magic, and how there was a limited amount of it, and how every muggle-born was diluting the pool. As he continued, he started using the term "mudblood" in place of "muggle-born" and "stealing magic" in place of "using magic."

It was deftly done, Hermione had to admit, and many of the students in attendance seemed to be listening carefully. This kind of propaganda would be enough to plant the seeds of doubt in many minds, and Hermione wondered what the next stage of recruitment would be. She waited eagerly to go back to Hogwarts and tell Harry and Ron what she had discovered. Dumbledore would want to know this, too, she knew.

As Hermione began to work through her plan of action in her head, the door to the pub opened and the dark witch from the bookstore walked in. Hermione's thoughts came to a screeching halt as she watched the witch and wizard acknowledge each other, then the witch proceed to the bar to get a drink from the surly barkeep. Hermione's plan of action immediately derailed in favor of some new strategy to get to talk with the witch on her own. The alarms going off in her head sounded like background noise to these new thoughts.

Hermione watched as the witch, Bellatrix?, turned at the bar, drink cradled in her slender hand, and began inspecting the room and its inhabitants. Each student at the table got a searching look from the older woman, and many faltered under her dark eyes. However, even the empty parts of room were looked at closely, and Hermione could have sworn that her gaze lingered on her own corner.

Not long after the mysterious woman's arrival, the "lesson" was finished and the students were sent on their way back to the school. Hermione stayed behind, waiting to see what would happen next.

"What do you think of this batch, Jugson?" the dark witch asked the large wizard.

"Not a bad lot, not to start. We won't keep them all and will have to do a little memory modification of those who don't return, but I think most will be back. I can see their greedy little eyes want more, even if it is just a secret to lord over their classmates. I'll lure them in and bind them up like flies in a spider web." The man boasted confidently, trying to impress, but Hermione could see that it was having the opposite effect on his compatriot.

"Fine. You may leave; your work is done. I will tell our lord that you have done a sufficient job for now, and he won't punish you, at least." The wizard looked put out by her dismissive response, to say the least, and began to say something. It took a mere look from the dark-haired witch for him to shut his mouth, and he nodded curtly and left.

After his departure, the only visible humans left in the room were the dark witch and the bartending owner. The woman lifted her head in the direction of the bearded old wizard and announced, rather loudly, "I think I shall have one more firewhiskey before I go. No need to rush off now that it is just us in here, is there?"

Hermione flushed, certain that Bellatrix had made that announcement for her benefit. It was now or never, she figured, and she quietly made her way to the bathroom door. Waiting for a moment when both the barkeep and Bellatrix were looking the other way, she pushed at the bathroom door with her foot and pulled down the cloak in the same instant. When they both turned to look at her, she hoped it would look like she'd just come out of the bathroom, innocently missing the dismissal of her schoolmates.

The barman gave her a searching look that she would have wilted under, had she not been distracted by the quirked eyebrow and satisfied smirk being sported by the dark-haired witch. Hermione's fingers immediately began tingling with nerves, while her belly and core were doing flip-flops.

"Hmm. Not quite alone, I see. Come and join me, dearie. Let's chat." Bellatrix grabbed her whiskey and a butterbeer and beckoned to Hermione with a dark-tipped finger, settling herself at a small, cozy table in the corner. Hermione cautiously sat down across from her, very aware of the proximity of her knees to the skirt-covered legs of her companion.

"What is your name, pet? No need to look so nervous. I won't report you being out after curfew."

"Uhmm…" Hermione stuttered, hoping that she just looked like she was nervous, and not like she was lying. "Roxanna. Roxanna Sevilla."

"Ah. Roxanna. I am Lyra Black, of the House of Black." The woman had a bit of a mischievous glint in her eye as she said this, as if daring Hermione to contradict her. _Well, I guess we'll both be someone else tonight. Except that if she finds out about me, I'm dead. _Hermione stayed wisely silent.

"So, Roxanna, we are well met again. I hope you enjoyed the book I found for you. Did it meet your needs?" Hermione could have sworn she felt Bellatrix's leg move a bit closer to her own under the table.

"Yes, ma'am. It has a lot of good information in it." She looked down at her drink, fiddling nervously with the bottle.

There was silence until Hermione looked up and met Bellatrix's dark eyes. _Well, she couldn't change those, at least. Those are the same eyes._ Bellatrix cocked an eyebrow at her, as her lips showed an amused pout. She knew how she was making Hermione feel, damn her. Hermione swallowed, found some Gryffindor courage, and spoke.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. What would you like to talk about?"

"Don't call me ma'am – I'm not that old. And don't apologize. It's weak. Why don't you tell me about yourself, Roxanna, starting with what you were doing this evening hiding in the bathroom?"

Hermione flushed, feeling her cheeks get even hotter when she realized that Bellatrix's leg had stretched out so that her boot was propped up against Hermione's chair leg, and her calf was pressing slightly against the young woman's shin. _This is going to be an interesting night_, Hermione thought, taking a deep breath.

A/N again: Next chapter we finally get some time with our ladies together! Bellatrix may seem OOC, but I figure she's got a lot of personalities in her toolbelt, all part of the manipulations she's so good at. Well, when she's not being batshit crazy. Oh, and please review! I'm just getting back in to creative writing and trying to find a good voice, so any and all feedback is helpful! (Except the kind that isn't, and you know what I mean.)


	5. Chapter 5 - A fireside chat

**Chapter 5**

**Thanks for the reviews, all! Keep them coming! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own copies of the HP books! JKR owns it all, and then some. **

Hermione wasn't quite sure how she wanted to play her Roxanna personality to Bellatrix. _Lyra_, she reminded herself. _Hell. Miss BLACK, that should keep me safe._ She wanted to be vulnerable enough to be a good target for Bellatrix's recruitment efforts, but confident enough to keep the dark witch hooked personally. For further encounters and incrimination, she reminded herself. Not for anything else. Of course.

"I was in the bathroom because I needed to use the bathroom. I wasn't hiding."

Bellatrix looked knowingly at her. "Hm-mm. Keep telling yourself that. I'm not buying it."

Silence.

"Well, I… I might have been hiding a little. I wanted to see what this was all about, but I wasn't sure how much I wanted to get involved. It seemed like the type of thing that once you show up, you are involved."

Bellatrix leaned back, looking a bit astonished. "And why wouldn't you want to get involved?" Her tone seemed to imply that Hermione should count herself lucky to have been invited, and that to suggest otherwise was not a wise course of action.

"… I… don't get involved in too much. I prefer to keep to myself." Hermione looked down in what she hoped was self-conscious modesty, though honestly, this part of Roxanna wasn't too far-fetched for her. If she hadn't become friends with Ron and Harry, she had a feeling she'd have ended up a lot like the isolated Ravenclaw girl.

"What, don't you have friends? A girl like you?" The older witch scoffed disbelievingly.

"No, not really. I am here to learn, and I don't really seem to fit in with other people so well." Hermione met the dark witch's eye and was pleased to see that she had her interest.

"So then, tell me, how did you end up in detention with Snape last week?" Bellatrix leaned forward eagerly. Hermione sensed that Bellatrix was trying to gossip with her, open her up and get her more comfortable. She decided to tell the truth on that score.

"I was rude in class. He was spending too much time berating unprepared students, and I wanted to move on. He didn't appreciate my opinion." She smiled a bit when Bellatrix laughed delightedly.

"Miss Black? May I ask you a question?" Hermione waited nervously to see if she'd crossed a boundary, but it appeared that Bellatrix was in a social mood, as her only answer was a raised eyebrow. "Why did you obliviate him, but not me?"

"Ah… well…" The raven-haired witch leaned back in her chair with her hands crossed behind her straightened hair. She placed her black boot on the edge of Hermione's chair, right beside her thigh, in order to push her own seat back onto its two back legs. "I wanted you to remember that night. I don't care about his pompous ass."

It seemed that both Hermione and Bellatrix realized at the same time that the dark witch was supposed to be a different person than the woman in the Forbidden Forest that night, and that the game was up. Bellatrix let her chair fall forward with a loud thwack to the stone floor, and Hermione sat up straighter, trying to figure out if she should flee.

The two witches eyed each other carefully, before Bellatrix gave a slight dip of her head. Both of them knew that the older witch's identity was in the open, but the charade would continue. For Hermione's sake, it had to continue. Bellatrix, it seemed, was merely enjoying the extra layer of entertainment.

As if to prove her comfort with her non-disguise, Bellatrix began to twirl the blue streak in her hair around one finger. "You remind me a bit of myself, you know," she said, slowly, teasingly.

"Wh-why is that?" Hermione was distinctly nervous. She wasn't sure of Bellatrix's tone, nor of being compared to the most powerful dark witch in the modern age.

"I also enjoyed learning, and I didn't find that my peers understood me or my dedication to my studies."

Hermione lifted her gaze to meet the dark eyes that were looking at her more gently now.

"I had a hard time making friends, and I always felt like those who did approach me only did so because they wanted to be associated with my family's wealth, or my status as a star student. I didn't waste my time with them, but I wished I had some real friends."

Hermione bit her lip and looked down, surprised that Bellatrix was sharing this with her. _She has a reason, Hermione, she's not doing this just to be nice. Be on your guard._ Hermione nodded, hoping the older witch would continue.

"It was pretty lonely back then, and I imagine it's still lonely now."

Hermione nodded again. Even with Ron and Harry and Ginny, sometimes it did feel lonely. They were friends, but they didn't really understand what drove Hermione, and nor did they make an effort to.

Bellatrix leaned forward and placed her hand on Hermione's forearm. At the contact, Hermione looked up quickly to meet the conspiratorial twinkle in the other woman's eye.

"Do you know what got me through? What made it all worth it?"

Hermione shook her head, aware that she hadn't spoken in a while, but unable to find words.

"I knew more than them. I was always going to know more than them, and because I knew more magic, I was always going to be able to do more than them. Their ignorance made them helpless in comparison to what I was going to be able to do."

Hermione attempted a response. "I… I do feel like they are wasting their time. There is so MUCH to be learned at Hogwarts, and they are just getting the minimum. Most of them haven't even set foot in the library!"

"Exactly what I mean, pet. They may be your same age, but they aren't your peers, and they never will be." Bellatrix squeezed Hermione's arm for emphasis. Hermione's face immediately flushed, but she made no effort to remove her arm, and neither did Bellatrix remove her hand.

"My mother says I just have to wait to grow up, to wait for my peers to grow up to be friends with them." Hermione remembered the wisdom her mother had tried to impart to her when she was the tender age of seven, already having trouble with her classmates in muggle primary school.

The older witch nodded, and stroked Hermione's arm gently. "She's right. You aren't going to find companionship among teenagers. You need adult stimulation."

_… What? Did she just…? Oh Merlin, is she coming on to me?_ Blushing furiously, Hermione couldn't help but search Bellatrix's face, letting her gaze rest on her slightly smiling lips. Full lips that, as she watched, slowly began to smirk. Hermione's eyes shot back up to meet a dark, knowing gaze.

"Umm…" _Great. That's a great response. Lovely._ She watched as the smirk grew wider, until finally Bellatrix was grinning openly at her.

"I _mean_, little one, that you need to be around some adults who can teach you what you want to know. Hogwarts doesn't have all the answers, you know, and in fact the teachers there spend a lot of time making sure you _don't_ learn everything you could."

The young witch swallowed nervously and nodded. Bellatrix squeezed her arm one more time and removed her hand, sitting back and folding her arms in front of her. The movement brought Hermione's attention to her corseted chest, now being pushed forward by the folded arms. _Eyes up! Pay attention! This is getting serious!_

"Roxanna…" At the dark witch's use of the name, Hermione suddenly remembered who she was supposed to be. "You can come to these meetings with Jugson or not, but I can see that you don't need to be around those sweaty, nervous teenagers any more than you already are. I can teach you and provide you with books that you won't find in the Hogwarts library."

Hermione's eyes widened at the invitation. "Umm… thank you. But will it… will it be dangerous?"

Bellatrix winked at her and grinned enticingly. "Dear one, safety is for those who want to experience nothing. It's the dangerous things that are worth doing."

Hermione swallowed again and smiled tentatively. She felt she was getting in awfully deep, but she wasn't sure she wanted out.


	6. Chapter 6 - Aguamenti

**Chapter 6**

**Thanks for the reviews, all! I appreciate the feedback sooo much!**

**Disclaimer: JKR is our queen, and I am a mere peon attempting to shadow her.**

"Lyra Black" finished her drink and asked Hermione if she wanted another. Hermione (or rather, "Roxanna") shook her head and said she'd really ought to be getting back to Hogwarts, as it was truly late at night.

"Miss Black, thank you so much for making the point to speak with me tonight. I would have slipped out quietly if I could have, but this was really… nice." Hermione couldn't help the blush that crept up her cheeks, and while she would have liked to have said that it was because she was lying to Bellatrix, she knew better.

"Roxanna, it has been my pleasure as well." Bellatrix gave what seemed like a genuine smile to Hermione, causing her flushed cheeks to radiate even more with heat. "I look forward to our next meeting."

Hermione gave a small smile, nodded, and looked down bashfully. Playing her part as Roxanna Sevilla was turning out to be rather easy for her, and she had a feeling it wasn't because she was a natural actress. The young witch was still hiding behind her curtain of hair when Bellatrix leaned down to catch her eye. "I will send you the details for our next meeting. Keep studying hard, but remember that what you are learning in those classes is just the beginning."

Hermione looked up to respond, and saw that the dark witch was already leaving the pub. She waited a moment to regain her composure, then tried to walk out without having to make eye contact with the barkeep, who had kept a surreptitious eye on the pair during their entire meeting. Stepping outside into the cool night air, Hermione took a deep breath to try to cleanse herself of the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that had taken her over. Throwing the invisibility cloak over herself, she made her way back to the school and her own bed, concentrating the entire time on simply breathing, and not thinking. For once, the brains behind the Golden Trio didn't want to think.

Hermione's empty mind served her well until a few hours later, when she suddenly awoke and sat bolt upright in bed. What if Bellatrix sent an owl to the real Roxanna? How was she to get the message from her, without letting her know that Hermione had stolen her identity? She didn't even know the girl! The anxiety of this problem kept Hermione up until dawn, when she finally fell into a restless sleep, her roommates waking her up an hour later.

Blearily, Hermione got herself cleaned up and dressed. She tried to think of something to tell Harry and Ron about her evening's adventures, but she was too exhausted and worried to figure out what she should tell them. And even though it was still the weekend, she had at least 3 assignments to get started on. She sighed and gathered up her books, including the small volume on plants that Bellatrix had given her, and descended to the common room. She decided that she would just say that she hadn't found anything in the library. This was the truth. After all, she had never gone to the library. For now it would suffice. Otherwise, she told herself convincingly, she'd have to deal with their overprotective knee-jerk reactions.

"Morning, 'Mione!" Ron greeted her cheerfully, looking annoyingly well rested. "How did the library go?"

"Yeah, did you find out anything?" Harry had the decency not to throw his energy in her face, and kept a respectfully subdued volume to his voice. Hermione wondered if this is what a hangover felt like and was happy that she had no classes and she could return to her room to nap later.

"I didn't find anything in the library last night." Hermione muttered the truth to them. "And I am exhausted this morning. Can we just go to breakfast?" The boys, while looking disappointed that she had nothing new to tell them, were nonetheless happy to indulge her latest request.

While the boys plowed their way through mounds of food, Hermione picked at her own plate and flipped through her textbooks. However, her mind would not settle, and she found herself thumbing though 'Native Plants of the British Isles.' There really were some interesting plants that she thought she could find on her camping trip, and they might even come in handy someday when she needed to make potions away from school. She tried to keep her mind occupied with the information in the book, but eventually gave in to temptation and turned to the front page. She had to see the handwritten message again, if just to remind herself that the whole thing hadn't been a dream.

There was writing on the front page, but not what she had expected to find. _"It really was a pleasure. Wednesday, 1 am, the boathouse. Practice your aguamenti."_

Hermione slammed the book shut and looked up, startled. Harry gave her an odd look, but Ron did not notice anything amiss. "I just thought of something I should have checked in the library," the flustered witch announced.

"Do you want us to meet you there? I mean, we were going to go practice Quidditch, but we'll come help you look if you want." Harry had a hopeful look on his face, and Hermione quickly reassured him that she would catch up with him and Ron later. For once it suited her fine that her friends didn't want to help her.

Hermione rushed to the library, realizing that she needn't have worried that Bellatrix would send an owl to the real Roxanna. She already had a way to communicate with Hermione, and a secret one at that. While the relief of not needing to have any awkward conversations with the Ravenclaw girl was palpable, Hermione found that the anxiety of the next meeting with the dark witch was quickly replacing her earlier stress.

Once in the library, Hermione gathered as many books as she could find that had information about the aguamenti spell. This was a fairly advanced spell that caused water to pour from one's wand, and Hermione had read about it years ago. She was not scheduled to learn how to do it until the following year, but Hermione being Hermione, she had been trying out the hand motions since the summer before. She realized that as a sixth year, Roxanna must have learned the spell already. Hermione made plans to spend some time near the lake practicing it in private, and she hoped that she didn't make a mess of it. However, there must be something more to the spell if Bellatrix wanted her to know it.

The books explained that aguamenti didn't create water, but pulled it from the environment – mostly the air, but sometimes from plants as well, if the wizard was powerful enough. It could be used for anything from filling goblets to putting out fires or washing away things. It seemed the wizard controlled the amount of water and the force. Hermione could see that it could be a powerful spell if used in certain ways, but was unsure how Bellatrix planned on using it. _Well, there is only one way to find out._

By dinnertime, Hermione was glad of two things: that the boys had spent the day playing Quidditch, and that she'd already learned the spell to dry oneself off. She had managed to drench herself more than once, as well as all of her books, before she finally got some control over the aguamenti spell. While she was certain that she'd need more practice before Wednesday night's private lesson, the young witch was pleased with her progress. She only hoped that Bellatrix was, as well.

Wednesday night rolled around far too quickly for Hermione's liking. She hadn't yet returned Harry's invisibility cloak to him, and she lay in her bed with it and her autumn robes under the covers with her. She tried to be still, but her anxiety was swinging her emotions all over the place. Hermione couldn't help but be worried, and even making a list didn't help. While at the top of her list were her concerns about her own life and limbs in the hands of the dark witch, she couldn't help but be concerned that she wouldn't live up to Bellatrix's expectations and that the witch would be disappointed in her. Hermione hated to disappoint her teachers.

When the clock finally turned to half past midnight, Hermione crept quietly out of bed, threw on her robes and the invisibility cloak, set a spell to her bed to make it seem as if she was still there, and tiptoed out of the room, book clutched in her hand. In the common room, the fire was just beginning to die out, and Hermione wondered if she should just sit down in a comfy chair and forget about the whole thing. While her mind was contemplating that, however, her feet had her moving to the exit, and she was out and in the corridor before she knew it.

The boathouse was empty when Hermione reached it, and she had enough time to stash the cloak away, find a comfortable seat, and allow her nerves to start jangling like a harp in Peeve's hands before Bellatrix finally arrived. Hermione did not see her coming – one minute she was not there, and then she was, even though she should not have been able to apparated onto Hogwarts grounds.

Hermione's heart pounded at the sight of the dark-haired woman, standing so confidently with her skirts swaying around her ankles and her hand resting casually on one hip. She was breathtaking, and Hermione entertained a brief fantasy of seeing this woman at the front of a classroom each week.

"Goo- - good evening Miss Black." Hermione hoped her spells had more to offer than her words.

Bellatrix nodded at her. "Roxanna. Your aguamenti, please."

Hermione stood up, pointed her wand towards the lake, prayed silently to anyone who would listen, and quietly whispered the spell. A strong flow of water poured out of the tip of her wand, and she smiled despite herself.

"Again. Stronger this time."

Hermione tried again, and this time the water came gushing like a hose that was on full power. She even had to step back a bit from the force of it.

"Now make the water into a wave, and use it to push that boat on the shore out into the lake."

Hermione stopped and looked up. "I… I don't think I can do that."

"Nonsense. Of course you can. Watch."

Bellatrix pointed her wand to the lake and with a flick of her wrist and a muttered incantation, created a wave strong enough to send ripples far across the lake. She then turned the direction of her wand towards Hermione, and at the same time the volume of water went from being a torrent to being a light mist that dusted Hermione in dew. The older woman smirked at her student, now covered in droplets.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the witch, pushed her wilted curls out of her face, and turned to aim her wand at the boat. She managed to get a stronger flow than last time out of her wand, but nothing forceful enough to move the heavy wooden rowboat.

"Again." Bellatrix came behind her, reached out her arm, and gently laid her hand on Hermione's wrist. Hermione froze, feeling every part of her body that the dark witch touched, and unable to breathe because of it. "And this time, move your wand… like so."

The wave that came from Hermione's wand was enough to push her fully back into the older woman's body, who stood steady against her. The young witch was having trouble controlling the wave, spraying it across the grass and lake until Bellatrix exerted more pressure on her arm. With her help, Hermione was able to use the wave to push the boat across the shoreline and into the water. As soon as it was floating, Bellatrix released her grip and Hermione dropped her arm, extinguishing the water flow. She couldn't help her relieved laughter at succeeding, and turned to find the dark-haired witch with a small grin on her face as well.

"That was… not bad. I hope you have mastered the drying spell, though."

Hermione laughed louder at that, and nodded. She demonstrated by drying the dock and the boathouse, pleased that she could show off something that she knew well.

"Now tell me what you know of the spell. For instance, where does the water come from?"

Hermione proceeded to recite from memory all that she had read about the aguamenti spell, as well as her own conclusion that it was a specialized form of the "accio" spell, which brought the spellcaster whatever was requested. "Accio Hogwarts: A History," for instance, was one of Hermione's most commonly used spells. Bellatrix nodded patiently through this recitation.

"You seem to have grasped the basics. Good. Now let's see what else you can learn." Hermione's mouth fell open at the woman's callous response to her hard work, but she shut it quickly and began to listen.

"The aguamenti charm works best when there is a lot of water around, such as this lake. You would have had trouble creating that wave inside the castle, for instance. Even so, a powerful wizard can pull the water from deep in the earth if needed, as well as from air or plants as you have mentioned. None of this is new to you, I am sure. However, your precious professors have certainly failed to mention that you can use similar spells to control other elemental forces." Bellatrix strode out of the boathouse and on to the grass. Hermione followed her quick pace and stood uncertainly beside her. Miss Black took no notice of her discomfort and instead aimed her wand over the lawn.

"Ferrumenti!" With that, a large amount of dust burst through the grass and rose into the air. With a flick of her wrist, Bellatrix caused the dust to coalesce into a ball and brought it close to Hermione for her inspection.

"It's metal," the young woman breathed, afraid to touch it.

"It's iron. It is found in great abundance in almost all soils, and a simple summoning charm can call it out for your use."

"How do you use it?" Hermione was almost afraid to ask, but her curiosity had to know. At the young woman's query, Bellatrix muttered, "Oppugno!" and the ball began flying at great speed around them. Hermione watched as it smashed through the boathouse walls over and over again, before turning and flying back towards her. Hermione dove to the earth. Bellatrix laughed delightedly, if a bit meanly, at her student on the ground, then stopped the iron ball right above her hand. Hermione got up and delicately plucked the ball from the air.

"It's almost like a bu…" She caught herself just before she made the reference to the muggle bullet. "Like a bludger." As Bellatrix nodded, clearly pleased with her own showing off, Hermione was busy conjuring images of how dangerous this spell could be. Childhood fears of guns were rising up within her: some muggle things had always seemed far scarier to her than what magic could accomplish. Best to quell her nervousness with knowledge, so she continued asking questions.

"How do you control it?"

Bellatrix laughed in surprise. Her pupil was showing more interest than she had expected, and she was delighted in her confidence. "No, no, my pet. You aren't ready for this quite yet. First you must master the control of water. Show me that you can send the water wherever I want it, in whatever quantities I choose, and we will move on to ferrumenti."

"But…"

"No. You needed to see what is out there to learn, but that does not mean you should take on everything all at once. You are _my_ student now, and we will proceed at my own pace."

Bellatrix looked pointedly at the younger witch until she lowered her eyes and nodded in acquiescence.

"Now, aguamenti again, and this time start with a small amount of water and increase it slowly."

Hermione worked at the spell until she was exhausted and drenched many times over. As she adjusted her casting to meet Bellatrix's demands, it occurred to her that the dark witch was really a very patient and effective teacher. The thought disappeared quickly, overwhelmed by the demands of the moment, but later, when safely back inside the castle in her own bed, Hermione pondered her assessment.

At no time did Bellatrix talk about the Dark Lord, mudbloods, unforgiveable curses, or anything else that Hermione would have expected from someone trying to recruit a young batch of Deatheaters. At no time did the older woman try to teach her anything other than how to control her own magic. While the magic she demanded was undoubtedly powerful, it didn't cross the lines into dark magic, which left Hermione both grateful and wondering.

Were these spells the kinds that she would continue teaching, or would the magic get darker and more powerful? Was Bellatrix trying to recruit Hermione, or did she really enjoy teaching her?

Hermione knew that Bellatrix had been correct in stating that the students weren't able to learn such things from Hogwarts professors. Under Dolores Umbridge's influence at the school, this was even more true than usual, and as terrifying as the conclusion was, Hermione knew she was eager to continue her lessons with the Death Eater.

As she drifted off to sleep, in between mentally practicing wand motions, Hermione made one more consideration. _I have got to find a way to get Ron and Harry up to speed._


End file.
